As I said in the last post, America has strayed from its foundation, and everyone knows it. What not everyone knows is that our foundation is based on a solid morality and virtue, as the writings of the Founders will clearly attest. A lot of people on the Left want to equate this with some sort of theocracy or forced belief in religion. While our principles are based in Judeo-Christian morality, there's no compulsion to believe in any given doctrine. The virtue and morality the Founders spoke of is (or at least once was) held universally among all people.
Being a Catholic, I can go on the virtues listed in the Catechism. There are 7 virtues corresponding to the "Seven Deadly Sins", and one more which encompasses all others. They are, with their corresponding vices:
Purity -- Lust
Self-Control -- Gluttony
Charity -- Greed
Persistence -- Sloth
Patience -- Wrath
Kindness -- Envy
Humility -- Pride
Justice -- Corruption
The issue with America these days is a lack of the virtue and an overabundance of the vice.
Purity is mocked as "unrealistic" while lust is held up as desirable. One only need watch TV to see this.
Self-control is considered boring, gluttony is admired - look at the buffets, look at the portions served in restaurants.
Do I really need to explain Charity versus Greed? Washington calls its greed charity and our charity greed because we're not giving to them.
Persistence is punished now - our businesses are held in contempt while we are told it's "patriotic" to redistribute hard-earned wealth to people who have done nothing to earn it in some misguided attempt to "equalize" everything.
Patience is shunned, we're a society that wants, no, DEMANDS instant gratification. And if we don't get what we want, when we want it, we take it out on anyone near us. Road rage, air rage, fill-in-the-blank rage...America is very angry.
Kindness is seen as weakness most of the time. I can at least say that kindness is the most respected of the virtues, from what I've seen, but it is still overshadowed by its vice. Envy rules our petty minds - look at the "reality" shows which follow around the super-rich and spoiled elites. They are presented as having the life we should all want, and I've seen more than a few people overextend themselves to try to live like they do.
Humility does not exist in Washington, or in too many other places. People are quick to thump their chests and shout about all they do. No one can silently just do the right thing. People who do good are usually looking for a camera or attention out of the corner of their eye. In the work world it's even worse. No one can just do the job and be part of the team. Everyone is standing on a soapbox shouting about what they do, and often times denigrating the accomplishments of others. Pride is not only shown like this. In a lot of ways, people think they know better than the Creator, deciding who is and is not worthy of life.
Justice is the all-encompassing virtue - justice is when people are treated equally under the law. Remember, justice is not a respecter of people, it is a respecter of the law. What we have now is corruption in many forms. Groups are pushing to have their agenda favored over others, the Left loves to have its own special victim classes, who are perpetually oppressed by some Big Bad Oppressor. Our elected officials no longer go in with the intent to serve the people, they go in only to serve themselves and find ways to stay in office to amass power and money.
The way things need to be in order to work is inverted. I will try to cover each of these in more detail in the next posts.
F.D. for Two Joe Schmoes
Crossposted on Grizzly Groundswell
Being a Catholic, I can go on the virtues listed in the Catechism. There are 7 virtues corresponding to the "Seven Deadly Sins", and one more which encompasses all others. They are, with their corresponding vices:
Purity -- Lust
Self-Control -- Gluttony
Charity -- Greed
Persistence -- Sloth
Patience -- Wrath
Kindness -- Envy
Humility -- Pride
Justice -- Corruption
The issue with America these days is a lack of the virtue and an overabundance of the vice.
Purity is mocked as "unrealistic" while lust is held up as desirable. One only need watch TV to see this.
Self-control is considered boring, gluttony is admired - look at the buffets, look at the portions served in restaurants.
Do I really need to explain Charity versus Greed? Washington calls its greed charity and our charity greed because we're not giving to them.
Persistence is punished now - our businesses are held in contempt while we are told it's "patriotic" to redistribute hard-earned wealth to people who have done nothing to earn it in some misguided attempt to "equalize" everything.
Patience is shunned, we're a society that wants, no, DEMANDS instant gratification. And if we don't get what we want, when we want it, we take it out on anyone near us. Road rage, air rage, fill-in-the-blank rage...America is very angry.
Kindness is seen as weakness most of the time. I can at least say that kindness is the most respected of the virtues, from what I've seen, but it is still overshadowed by its vice. Envy rules our petty minds - look at the "reality" shows which follow around the super-rich and spoiled elites. They are presented as having the life we should all want, and I've seen more than a few people overextend themselves to try to live like they do.
Humility does not exist in Washington, or in too many other places. People are quick to thump their chests and shout about all they do. No one can silently just do the right thing. People who do good are usually looking for a camera or attention out of the corner of their eye. In the work world it's even worse. No one can just do the job and be part of the team. Everyone is standing on a soapbox shouting about what they do, and often times denigrating the accomplishments of others. Pride is not only shown like this. In a lot of ways, people think they know better than the Creator, deciding who is and is not worthy of life.
Justice is the all-encompassing virtue - justice is when people are treated equally under the law. Remember, justice is not a respecter of people, it is a respecter of the law. What we have now is corruption in many forms. Groups are pushing to have their agenda favored over others, the Left loves to have its own special victim classes, who are perpetually oppressed by some Big Bad Oppressor. Our elected officials no longer go in with the intent to serve the people, they go in only to serve themselves and find ways to stay in office to amass power and money.
The way things need to be in order to work is inverted. I will try to cover each of these in more detail in the next posts.
F.D. for Two Joe Schmoes
Crossposted on Grizzly Groundswell
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